Theatre with a side of life
Refuge Theatre presents HANDS ON A HARD BODY. The premise for this show is timely, relevant and fascinating. The creative team of Doug Wright (book), Amanda Green (lyrics and music), and Trey Anastasio (music) tell the story of survival of the fittest. In oppressed Longview, Texas, desperate citizens compete for a new Nissan “Hardbody” truck. The ...
Idle Muse Theatre presents BEST FOR WINTER. Director Evan Jackson impressively adapts works by William Shakespeare, including The Winter’s Tale, into one epic tale. His storytelling is bursting with signature Shake; a mad king, a shipwreck, mistaken identities, star-crossed lovers. Jackson engages with an almost overwhelming 16 characters. Over time, his multiple storylines are weaved together in a ...
Broadway in Chicago presents ANASTASIA. The creative team of Terrence McNally (book), Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), inspired by the movie, made this epic story into a musical. Anastasia is a Russian princess. Her fairytale life abruptly ends with her family being murdered. Although the country, now under communist rule, believes Anastasia perished with her ...
Broadway in Chicago presents A BRONX TALE. It’s the Bronx 1960. Belmont Avenue is a close-knit Italian-American neighborhood of bakeries, bars and gangsters. Over on Webster Avenue, African-Americans have established their own community. Calogero (played by a charismatic Joey Barreiro) narrates his personal story about defying his father (played by Richard H. Blake). First, as as ...
Broadway in Chicago presents THE CHOIR OF MAN. When was the last time, you were in a bar with nine guys who could sing? You have less than a week to remedy that. THE CHOIR OF MAN has embarked on its USA tour. From across the pond, the fellows hail from Ireland, England and Scotland. And ...
Mercury Theater Chicago presents LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. The residents of Skid Row want a better life. Seymour (played by Christopher Kale Jones) dreams of fame. Audrey (played by the amazing Dana Tretta) wishes for a home. Mr. Mushnik (played by Tommy Novak) wants a successful business. Dr. Orin (played by the hilarious David Sajewich) yearns ...
Jackalope Theatre presents the Midwest Premiere of DUTCH MASTERS. Patrick Agada (Eric) holds Sam Boeck (Steve) and the audience captive for a tumultuous eighty minutes. We meet Agada on a bus. He playfully tries to start a chat with Boeck, who is trying to read a book. Agada kicks up his antics to get Boeck’s attention. ...
The Gift Theatre presents DOUBT: A PARABLE. Playwright John Patrick Shanley debuted this play in 2004. The story, set in the Bronx in 1964, is about a priest accused by a nun of molesting a child. Shanley’s premiere was after the Boston Globe’s 2002 report on numerous pedophile priests and before a decade long avalanche of ...
Lookingglass Theatre presents ACT(S) OF GOD. Playwright Kareen Bandealy pens a dark comedy anchored in religious fervor. The play starts with a couple relocated to the desert in 2029. The wife (played by a noteworthy Shannon Cochran) sorts through mail. The husband (played by Rom Barkhordar) is trying to read his book. The noise from the ...
Lifeline Theatre presents THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY. Gabriel Syme (played by an outstanding Eduardo Xavier Curley-Carrillo) infiltrates an anarchist movement by going undercover. He becomes ‘Thursday’ in the group of sophisticated villains named after days of the week. As these anarchists unleash their reign of terror, the absurdity goes off the chain. Beards come off. ...